Grass-twine machine.



Y PATENTED JULY @i lri'* W. sggjgsms,

GRASS TWINE fmmmgf,

APPLIGATIGR EEE?, 65T. ifi of 67??" Y Y 3y ai? @farne ya 'ii "WY, REES' GRASS TMSS MACHINE.

4 SHEETS-SEHEN 4.

El; U

UNITED singes PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS W. JERRMS, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESGTA.

GRASS-mms MACHINE.

To @EZ whom it may concern.: Y Y Be it known that I, THOMAS W. Jeannine,

a citizen of the United States, residin at St. Paul, in the'county of Ramsey and tate of Minnesota, have invented certain new an' useful Improvements in Grass-Twine Mashines; andl. do hereby declare the olloiv'; to be a full, clear, and exact description o the invention, such .as will enable others the blades are twiste into a single strand. A

The number of feed devices which will be 2 5 required will depend largely upon the size of the twine or ro e which is to he formed by the single strand). j

As a primary feed deviceor grass-selector I preferably employ mechanism of the class set forth and broadly claimed in my United States Letters Patent No. 745,625, issued to me of date December l, 1903, entitled Machine for making grass-twine. Forcoper" ation with each rimary feed device I em Yley secondary feed sevices or rollers of the c aracter disclosed and broadly claimed in my Vcompanion application, Serial No. 229,58 iiled of -even vdate herewith and entitled Grass-twine machine.

illustrate my invention, e characters Figure 1 isa plan view ahmvingeJ Vcomplete machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical' section teken longitudinally through the machine approximately on the line :c2 c of Fig. v1, some parts being left in full. i Figf is e. vievvin'le'ft side elevation, showin certain ofhefliiig .6911.-

F 1, some parteV being broken away and ot ers bein removed.V Fig. 5 is avertical ,sectionl on t e line x5 :1:5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 vis a view partly in plan, but rincipally 1n`hori` 'Zonta section, showing t e construction of Y .the combined twisting. and drawing device.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application iileel October Q'L. Serial No. 229,550.y

skilled in the art to which it appertains to In the accompanyingikdrawings, which.

Patented July 3, 1906.

Fig. 7 is a view, partly in side elevation, but principall in vertical section, on the line :olaf of Fig. .l i lustrating the detail construction of parte of the reeling mechanism; and Fi Sis 6o a horizontal section on the line :es :es of i 7. The numeral l indicates the rameworlr of the machine, which at the head of the machine is provided with a transverselyextended section la. In the present machine I have shown four Sio-called primary feed devices and Yfour so-called secondary feed devices, which devices are locate'd in a 'transverse row, supported from the framesection 1*, and deliver to a common gather 7o ing-spout, which gathering-spout directs all the grass-blades to a common combined drawln device and twister. From the cornbined rowing device and twister the single strand of twisted twine or rope is wound 75 upon avvindlass-spool', which rotates on its own axis to wind u the rope or cord. L Grosse-holder.'- *or each primary feed device or selector there is a grass-holder, and, as shown, the several rase-holders are af 8o forded by a transverseIf-extended hopperplate 2, having a plurality of depressions and rigidly supported by brackets 3 from a pedestad-hearing 4, which latter is rigidly secured on the frame-section 1.

Feed `mcchanism-The so-called edestal-bearing 4 is formed with aplura ity of laterally-spaced vertical sections 4 and with intervenin gaps. Each primary `feed de-V vicejjas il ustrated in the drawings, com- 9o fprijsesthree vertically-disposed feed-blades 5 or bars which have serrated innerer o posing l edges 6 and upwardly-diverging e ge surfaces 7 above said serrations. At one side tvvfV of the feed-blades 5 are located parallel 95 to each other, but are. spaced apart laterally, Ywhile the one co erating blade on the other sideis so locatedtliat it works in a lane passingl betweenY the cooperating` bla es on the ot er side, as hestshown in ig. l The coroo operating beveled' edges 7 of said blades form an upwardly-divergng crotch which leads downward to the seri-ations 6 of said blades vand is adapted to receive the butt-ends of the nections. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectien taken approximately on the lineair* :1:4 ofO ass-blades, which, are held in a loose bunfc5 le or bunch by the co erating holder. The feedhlades 5 are? ed for true vertical movements, as shown, by adjustable s boxes 8, that are secured to the pe estellrongs 4 hyv slot-and-screw connections 9'. V1 1o yadjustments offene of the guide-boxes 8 with respect to the other the distancevhiclr grass are directed the .serrations of the` leed-bars w'ill interlap may be varied, and the rate of feed of the grass-blades may bc rcgulated accordingly.V

The lower ends of the eed-blades 5 are connected by crank-rods to cranks or eccentrics 11, carried by a transverse countershaft 12, journaled in suitable bearings on the pedestal-bracket 4, as best shown in Fig. 4. The two cranks or eccentrics which operate the o posite blades of a particular primary feerl)rlr-vice or selector are set one hundred and eighty degrees apart. The outside crank-rods 10 are connected to the outside feed-blades 5 by bearingdieads 13, while the intermediate crank-rods 10 are connected to the blades of two adjacent feed devices by pronged heads 14. The cranks or eccentrics 11 have short throw, usually about one-half of an inch. The two blades 5, which stand side by side, are tied together so that they have. common movements.

The upri ht rollers l15 of the secondary feed device lave conical upper ends 15, that form the same with coperatin surfaces that diverge from each other and crm crotches. The trunnions at the reduced upper ends ofX the rollers 15 are journaled in bearin s 16,

rigid on the prongs 4IL of the edestalearin 4. The trunnions at the ower ends of said rollers are journaled in`bearings 17 on said pedestal 4, and one of the lower trunnions o1" each pair of rollers is provided with a miter-gear 18, that meshes with a miterear 19 on the transverse counter-shaft 12.

aid counter-shaft 12 is provided at one end with a pulley 20. Said rollers 15 carry intermeshin -gears 17a.

The lades of grass, which are fed endwise by the several palrs of rollers 15,- are delivered into an inclined rearwardlymonverging concentrating-s out 21, by means of which they are delivere to a combined twister and drawing device, or, in other words, 'to the twineformin mechanism proper.

Oom ne twister and drawin dancer-By the coneentratinO-spout 21 t e blades of into a non-rotary guidesleeve 22, which is fixed in a suitable bearing 23 on one of the transverse bars of the frame 1 and is provided at its rear end with a`worm 24. Spaced a art axiallyrom the sleeve 22- and fixed in a earing 25 'on a transverse bar of the frame 1 is a second non-rotary guidesleeve 26. Mounted to rotate on the two sleeves 2j?. and 26, between the bearin s 23 and25,'is a gear carrier or frame 27,0 rec-y tangular form, as shown, which is provided on one hub with a sheave 28. Y

- That portion of the rope or sin' le strand of twisted twine which is exposed etween the two sleeves 22 and 26 passes between and is pressed by a pair of peripherally-'grooved drawing-Wheels 29, whlch are secured on lstub-shafts 30, ournaled in bearing-boices 31,

that are slidab y mounted in the side plates of said frame 27 and are subject to springs 32. The springs 32 cause the wheels 29 to yieldingly press the rope z. The shafts 3() are provided with fears 33, that mesh with each other and with gears 34, that are carried by stub-shafts 33. The stub-shafts 35 are journaled in the side plates of the revolving-frame 27 and are provided with wormgears 36, that mesh with the threads of the worm 24 of the non-rotary sleeve 22. With this construction it is evident that when the frame 27 is revolved the draw-wheels 29 will be revolved around the axis of the rope z, thereby twisting the same, and will be rotated on their own axes, thereby drawing the twisted rope rearward and toward the windlass-drum.

Reel'ing mechanism.-l`fhe windlass-spool onto which the finished rope is wound involves a spindle 37, havin a fixed lower end head 3S and a detachabe, upper end head 39. The spindle fits loosely over -a verticallydisposed shaft 40, which is rigidly secured at its lower end in a hearing 41 of a plate'42, which plate is rigidly secured to the frame 1 and. is provided with another bearing 43 for a purpose which will presently appear. The ovver end head 38 of the spool 37 1s' provided with a depending notched flange 38, that interlocks with notches in the annular rim 44 of a wheel 45, which wheel is loosely mounted on the shaft 40. Loosely mounted on said shaft 40, just above the bearing 41, is a spurear 46, which is provided with an annular ange 47. S ring-pressed `friction-shoes 48 are interpose' between the ian e 47 :and the notched rim of the wheel 45. aid shoes-48 are provided with short stems 48, that work through the flange 47 to cause saidshoes to rotate with the gear 46.

The numeral 49 indicates a reverselythreaded shaft, the smooth lower end of which is loosely 'ournaled in the bearing 43 above noted, an carries a spurear 50, that mesheswith the gear 46. Wor ing on the threaded portion of the shaft 49 is a traveling ide 51, through which the rope asses on its way tothe s ool. The said guif e 51 and reversely-threa ed shaft 49 constitute, a deploy forrguiding the rope and windixi the same in layers on the spool. This depoyer is of thestandard construction, theoperatibn of which is well understood,and ,hence requires no further description.

The spur-gearl carriesa bevel-,gear 52, that meshes with a bevelpinion 53, carried by the rear end of a long`"countershaft 54, mounted in suitable bearings on the frame 1. This shaft 54 also carries, as shown, a sheave 55 and two pulleys 56 and 57. Motion isirn' parted to t e counter-shaft 54 by a owerriven belt 58, (indicated by dotted l es in Fi 1,) which runs overfthe pulley 56. A be t 59 mns over the tpuie 57 and over a pullev 60; carried by va it counter-shaft IOO ISO

.- per en s l5 of the feed-ro the rotary movement of the shaft i2 the feedsaigree v 61, mounted in suitable bearin s on the frame-section 1a and provided wit a pulley 62. A belt 63 runs over the pulley 62 and over the pulley 20 of the shaft 12. A belt 64 runs over the sheave 55 and over the sheave V28 of the revolving frame 27. Itwill thus be seen that all of the running partsof the machine receive motion from the countershaft 54.

Operationr-The grass in straight paraiiel arrangement is placed in loos bundles in the several depressions of the hol erlate 2, with the butt-ends resting in the crotc es afforded by the diverging upper end surfaces 7 of the feed blades or bars 5 and with the butt-ends of said rase-blades overlying the conical upers 15. Under blades 5 will be reciprocated, and the grassblades will be selected from the bottoms of the loose bundles in a regular order of succession and will be fed downward into engagementwitlr the rollers 15. 'The conical upper rends i5a of the said rollers guide the buttends of the grass-blades between the bodies of said rollers, and the said rollers when they engage the grass-blades feed them endwise. The several streams of grass which are simultaneously delivered by the several feed devices into the gathering-spout 21 are concentrated into' a single stream and are directed through the non-rot sleeve 22, thence between the drawing-w eels 29, and thence through the non-rota sleeve 26, and from thence to the spool of t e reeling device. As

already stated, the drawing-wheels 29 by rotation on their own axes draw the rope rearward and by revolution with the frame 27 twist the grass-blades together into rope form. The rotary movements of the draw- Wheels 29 on their ownaxes determine the s eedv at which the twisted rope will be awn rearward.` The ear 46 is driven at such speed that it will wind the twisted rope onto the spool 37 when the coil is-of its minimum size. As the coil on the s ool increases in diameter the spool Will be he d back or reterded in respect to its rotation with the gear 46, this retarding movement bein permitted by slippage between the loose W eel 45 and `the sprin -pressed friction-shoes 48 of the gear 46. t will thus be seen that the twisted rope is wound upon this spool 37v without having been 'ven a c ance to untwist.

'When the spoo is lled, the head 39 thereof being removed, the coiled rope may be removed-as an.entiretyand by suitable binding-cords may be held together, so that it may be handled or ship ed as an entirety.

The machine descri ed is especially designed for making single-twist rase-rope or very large rase-twine. llhis c ass of grassrope is use for a great many diiierent puroses, and a large amount oi' the same is used or making cores in thc casting of large metaliic water-pipes and similar bodies.

The machine described is of course capable of modification within the scope of my invention as here' set forth and claimed.

sllhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1, in a grass-feeding device, a plurality of primary feeding devicesV and a plurality of secondary feeding devices, said primary feed devices involving opposing feed blades or bars havin co erating serrated edges, and said secon ary eed devices involving coperating pairs of upright rollers hay in coperating upper end surfaces that 'verge from each other and form grass-receiving crotches, substantially as described. A

2. In a grass-feeding mechanism, a plurality of primary feeding devices and aplurality of secondary feeding devices, said primary feed devices involving opposing fee blades or bars havin cooperating serrated edges,-

and said secon ary feed devices involving up- Y ondary feeding devices to said common twist-vV ing device, and a reeling device receiin from said twisting device; said prima ee devices 'involving opposing feed bla es or* bars having cperating serrated edges andv diverging up er end surfaces, and said secondary feed evices involving upright rollers havin conical upper ends, substantially as deseri ed.

in testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

T-Oll/LAS W. JERREMS.

u Witnesses:

ROBERT C. MABEY, FRANK D. MERCHANT.

IOO 

